


Dragged Into This Game Called "Love"

by Luxy



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-09
Updated: 2019-07-21
Packaged: 2020-06-25 04:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19738615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luxy/pseuds/Luxy
Summary: A two-shot (or short story, we'll see how it goes) about how Tzuyu gets dragged by her college roommate Mina, who goes by "Minguin" online, to meet Mina's online friend (and crush), "Cub-berry", for the first time in real life.Mina and "Cub-berry" arrange for a meet-up and agree to let each other bring a friend along (like a blind-double-date, but not since Mina's in denial shhh), so she gets Tzuyu to agree to come with her. When they finally meet, Tzuyu just might get along with Cub-berry's friend better than she thinks she will.





	1. Loading the Game...

“Hey, Tzu.”

“Yeah, Minari?”

“Are you sure you don’t want to make an account and play with us?”

“I’m not a gamer like you ‘Minguin’ and I don’t want to make things awkward.”

“You won’t make it awkward! But, ugh, fine.” There’s a pause before she speaks up again, “You know how Cub-berry and I have been wanting to meet in person?” Mina spins around in her swivel chair to look at her roommate.

“Mhm?” Tzuyu looks up from her book and raises an eyebrow which barely pokes above her glasses. “Have you and your girlfriend finally managed to plan a meet-up?”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Mina blushes and Tzuyu rolls her eyes.

“Oh, please! I’m surprised your heart eyes haven’t managed to pass through the screen,” Tzuyu quips as her roommate chucks a pillow at her and hits the side of her head. “So, what does this have to do with me anyway?”

“We agreed to meet on Wednesday for lunch in between our classes. Her university isn’t too far from ours so we’re meeting at a cafe that’s pretty much at the halfway point. It’s like a 15-minute walk from campus.”

“And? That still doesn’t explain where I come in.”

“We’ve decided we could bring along a friend with us. I want you to come with me.”

“Alright. Fine,” Tzuyu sighs. “What time?”

Mina pumps a fist in the air and gives one of her signature gummy smiles before speaking, “The meeting is at 12:30. We would have 15-minutes after our classes before we need to start walking. You do have a class at the same time block as me right, which ends at 12?” Tzuyu nods. “So, we can drop our stuff off and freshen up!”

“Sounds good. Now, I need to head to bed. Since tomorrow is Tuesday, my first class starts at 7,” Tzuyu says as she sets her book on her desk and gets up off the couch.

“Why did you pick such an early class? Mine starts at 9:30.”

“Well, good for you,” she drawls. “It was the only time that the class would fit into my schedule. Trust me, if I could’ve chosen a later time of that class or different day with a later time, I would’ve,” Tzuyu grumbles as she settles into her bed. “Well, if you’re gonna be staying up until 12 again, keep it down.”

Mina glances at the time on her computer where it read 10:35 p.m. and sighs. “I should probably get to bed too. It’s getting late.” Tzuyu answers with a yawn as she shifts under the covers.

“Goodnight, Mina.”

“Goodnight Tzuyu,” she says as she turns off the room light and carefully climbs the ladder to her bunk above her roommate's.

  
  


One long day of lectures and classes later and it's Wednesday morning. Mina wakes up to see Tzuyu packing her bag. “Morning,” she says with a yawn.

“Oh, you’re up! Good morning. It was weird to wake up before you.”

“Yeah, I had trouble sleeping last night. I was too excited and nervous.” Tzuyu nods understandingly.

“I got you your usual coffee from the caf like what you do for me. I also picked up some omurice,” she gestures at the plastic container and coffee cup on Mina’s desk. “I made sure to grab extra ketchup packets.”

“You’re the best!” Mina grins. Tzuyu turns around and keeps fiddling with her stuff to let her change.

“I know.” She turns around with a cheeky smile on her face when Mina shoves her a little bit on her way out of their room and across the hall into the girls' bathroom. She comes back to see Tzuyu sitting on their couch, munching happily on her french toast and cup of assorted fruit while sipping her coffee. Mina grabs her breakfast and settles down next to her.

A few minutes later, Tzuyu finishes up and checks her phone. “I should be heading out.” She gets up and slings her messenger bag onto her shoulder. “I’ll see you back here after 12!” Tzuyu opens the door and gives a quick wave. Mina hums and waves back as she watches her roommate close the door behind her. She gets up off the couch, packs her own bag and heads out to her first class of the day, locking their door behind her.

  
  


Tzuyu unlocks their door to see Mina staring at the multiple outfits that she’s strewn all over their room. She looks over at Mina’s desk to see an array of makeup covering the surface. She dies a little inside when she glances at their closet and sees the pile of clothes spilling out of it. Thankfully, it seems only Mina’s side has been ravished and her side survived the fashion disaster tornado.

“Oh. Dear God, Minari. Having trouble, are we? It’s not like you’re going on the red carpet. You’re just hanging out with friends.”

“But—”

“I know, I know. You want to impress your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend—”

“Yet.”

“J-Just shut up and help me!” Tzuyu sighs and helps her roommate get ready.

“...You know you’re cleaning all of this up on your own, right?”

  
  


After receiving satisfactory advice _(a.k.a Tzuyu shoving an outfit in Mina’s arms after getting fed up with going back and forth between outfits and making zero progress),_ Mina finally "settles on" a light pink knit sweater and a black skirt with only a little bit of make-up.

Tzuyu tends to her own outfit and make-up. She decides on a black bomber jacket over a baby blue ringer tee crop top and a pair of light blue and slightly ripped skinny jeans. She puts on a small amount of subtle make-up to clear up her face and a little lip gloss before she combs her hair. She turns back around and Mina gawks at her.

“How am I supposed to compete with you!” Mina whines, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Don’t say that! You’re beautiful!” Mina snorts and rolls her eyes as she puts on her sneakers and slings a purse over her shoulder.

“I’m serious!” Tzuyu pouts as she puts on her high-tops and grabs her own small purse before trailing after her roommate and out of their dorm.

  


After about 10 minutes of walking and casual conversation, Tzuyu asks, “So, do you know they look like? Or do they know a little about us? We need to be able to find them and sit with them.”

“She gave me a little bit of a description and I gave her the same about us. Both of them are slightly on the short side and have short hair, hers is like a platinum blonde. I told her that you’re tall and I’m average and that we both have long hair, but mine is black and yours is chestnut.”

“Should you give her a bit of info about our outfits? Or are we just going on the generic features?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. I should probably do that,” Mina says as she finishes tying her long black hair up. She pulls out her phone and types furiously. “Okay, done. She said that they’re already there, so they’ll just wave us over.”

“We’re here... Um, Mina… Hey! Stop walking. Come back; you passed it, you idiot.”

“Sorry!” Mina takes a shaky breath, nervousness coursing through her.

“...Just saying: if they turn out to be 50-year-old men, I won’t say I told you so—” Tzuyu gives her a pointed look, “—but I will ditch you.”

“...”

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” Tzuyu says quickly and hugs Mina tightly after seeing the girl start to hyperventilate. “I wouldn’t do that to a little penguin. I’ll suffer with you or I’ll kick them in the balls and we make a run for it.”

This seems to calm Mina down as her breathing slows and Tzuyu gets a squeeze back. They turn towards the door and Mina takes a deep breath as she opens the cafe's doors...

...by grabbing and shoving Tzuyu in front of her and through said double doors. 


	2. Game Start

Mina’s roommate nearly falls as she stumbles forward to collide with the door but she catches herself and manages to enter normally.

“You’re lucky that wasn’t a pull,” Tzuyu hisses at her friend.

“I was hoping that it was. You deserve it,” Mina answers coolly as her eyes scan the cafe.

“...Touché,” she mutters and glances at the ground. Mina nudges her and nods to their right. Tzuyu quickly lifts her head and notices two short-haired girls sitting in a booth against the wall and right by a long glass window. One girl, who has platinum blonde hair, is waving energetically with a grin on her face. The one who catches Tzuyu’s eye is the other girl sitting at the booth whose large brown eyes are watching them curiously. Tzuyu takes a few steps towards them when she realizes Mina isn’t coming. She walks back towards Mina and gently takes her hand.

“Are you ready?” she says softly and her roommate nods. Tzuyu leads Mina by her hand over to the table. Tzuyu stands at the end of the small table with Mina hiding behind her tall figure like a little kid hiding behind their parent.

“H-Hi… Cub-berry, right?” Mina asks tentatively, peeking out over Tzuyu’s shoulder.

“Yup! And you must be Minguin! Nice to finally meet you in person!”

“L-Likewise! My real name is Mina and this is my roommate Tzuyu,” Mina steps out from behind Tzuyu and shyly bows her head in greeting before gesturing towards her friend who wordlessly gives a polite and stoic bow of her head.

“Right! Real names. I’m Chaeyoung and this here is Jihyo—" Jihyo waves at them with a friendly smile "—who happens to be my roommate as well.” As she speaks, they slide into the seat across from the other girls in the booth; Mina across from the platinum blonde girl and Tzuyu across from Jihyo.

“I’m happy to finally meet you! Chaengie here doesn’t stop talking about you,” Jihyo smiles warmly at Mina who blushes. Tzuyu lets out a puff of air through her nose but otherwise stays silent. Jihyo decides to throw in some light-hearted teasing, “The way she stares at the screen when they’re talking… Her gaze is so full of love that I swear she makes the computer—”

“— _feel like the third wheel!_ ” Tzuyu can’t help but break her silence to exclaim at the same time as Jihyo, grinning at her knowingly. Jihyo’s eyes widen as she’s startled by the sudden outburst and surprised at how Tzuyu seems to have read her mind. The two high-five right after and burst out laughing when Mina and Chaeyoung duck their heads in unison. Their laughing calms down and the two girls catch their breath.

“Oh. Did you guys order anything before we got here?” Tzuyu asks Jihyo.

“No. We were waiting for you guys.”

“Then I’ll get us some drinks. Earl Grey, right Mina?” Mina nods her head. “Alright, what about you two?”

“One strawberry lemonade for me, please!” Chaeyoung gives her a dimpled smile.

“I’ll have an iced coffee, thanks.”

“Alright. I’ll be right back.” She scoots towards the edge of the seat to get up but Mina’s hand shoots out to latch onto her wrist, stopping Tzuyu in her tracks. The younger girl turns around and wordlessly wraps Mina in a tight hug. “C’ mon Minari. Deep breaths.” She strokes the back of her head as Mina takes a few deep shaky breaths. “I’m not going far. If you need to step away, you can okay? I’ll be right over there if you need me. You can do this. You’ll be fine,” Tzuyu says gently. 

Chaeyoung watches Mina with concern and confusion flooding her features as her eyes dart between Tzuyu’s face and the back of Mina’s head. Jihyo blatantly stares at Tzuyu with a soft smile on her face because of the sweet and caring side that the tall girl is showing. It’s just so soft that Jihyo melts a little bit inside. Tzuyu gives her one last tight, reassuring squeeze before carefully removing herself and going to order. Mina looks down at her lap, shoulders rising and falling shakily with every breath.

“So, Mina. I’m assuming you and Tzuyu go to the same college since you’re roommates. What do you and Tzuyu study?” Jihyo asks gently and gives her a warm and friendly smile when Mina snaps her head up to look at her.

“Oh. Technically we do go to the same college, but it’s like one giant university split into 4 smaller ones.”

“What do you mean?”

“The four sister colleges focus on STEM, medical, law, and business practices. The 4 different square campuses are all touching each other and essentially make one giant campus; we call the separate campuses the Quarters. There’s no indication of the borders and they meld so seamlessly that if you hadn’t gone to one of the schools for a while, you wouldn’t know when you’ve crossed into a different campus. Also, the dorms aren’t even specifically for one of the colleges seeing as they all sit right on the border of two Quarters. The STEM Quarter is to the left of the Medical Quarter, below the Law Quarter, and diagonal from the Business Quarter,” Mina explains, feeling more comfortable around the two after having finally calmed down.

“Oh, that university! I think it’s a 30-minute walk from ours. I’ve heard of it; it’s pretty prestigious, right?” Mina nods.

“Our dorm sits right on the border of the Quarter I spend all my time in and the one where Tzuyu has her classes. I’ll let Tzuyu tell you herself about what she’s studying. I am studying marine biology, more specifically: specializing in Antarctic organisms,” Mina says quietly.

“Woah! Personally, science beyond knowing gravity is— _a thing_ and why we have day and night is way too much for my brain to handle.” The girls chuckle. “Wait a minute. Is that where your username comes from? Mina + penguin = Minguin! That’s super cute and clever!” Chaeyoung coos. Mina nods with a bashful smile.

“I like penguins and our friends tell me that I’m penguin because of the way I walk. I took many years of ballet and for a while my toes kind of point outwards, so it kind of looked like I waddled.”

“For me, my friends say I’m like a tiger cub and call me ‘Cub’ sometimes. I also love strawberries and kind of self-proclaimed myself as the Strawberry Princess to Jihyo and I’s friend group… Thus Cub-berry was born. Lame, I know. It’s not as subtle as yours.”

“I think it’s cute!”

“You have to admit it’s dorky though,” Jihyo comments with a giggle, her eyes drifting mid-comment to stare at Tzuyu’s figure. Chaeyoung pouts at her remark.

“Well, yeah. But, that’s what gives it some charm.” Chaeyoung’s pout turns into a blinding smile as she turns her gaze to Mina. She blushes but manages to return a small gummy smile. Mina also notices Jihyo watching her best friend and her pure smile turns into one that’s knowing and slightly mischievous. Tzuyu walks back over to them with a small tray.

“Alright, here we are ladies,” Tzuyu says as she passes out the drinks.

“How much did our drinks cost? Chaeyoung and I can pay you back,” Jihyo inquires.

“Don’t worry about it; it’s on me,” she says as she slides back into her seat next to Mina and gently blows on her hot chocolate.

“Tzuyu!” Chaeyoung pipes up as she sips her lemonade and Tzuyu looks up, tilting her head. Mina quietly giggles to herself when Jihyo seems to get startled by the cute response as she coughs and looks away for a second to cover up her reaction, her cheeks dusted pink. “What do you study at your university? Mina told us her major.”

“Oh. I’m studying to become a mixed-practiced veterinarian. I’d like to work with both companion animals and livestock,” Tzuyu’s eyes instantly brighten up as she talks about her aspiration. She rambles on for a little bit about her love for animals, her personal favorites being dogs and cows.

“Your favorite animals are dogs and… _cows_? That’s an interesting combination,” Chaeyoung comments and Tzuyu just shrugs. Jihyo listens to her intently with a small smile the whole time Tzuyu talks, watching the way the younger girl’s face is glowing with passion and how pure she is. Even though this is the first time that Jihyo's experiencing this, she decides she loves seeing this side of the girl and wants to see it more often: the rare moment when she lets her emotion shine through to them and not just Mina.

“Guess it’s our turn to share, Ji!” Chaeyoung nudges her roommate when Tzuyu finishes. Mina notices as Tzuyu’s full attention goes to the big-eyed beauty. Chaeyoung shares, “Our college focuses on _the Arts_.” She says “the Arts” in a horrendous “elegant” accent accompanied by a lame flourish of her hands and a roll of her eyes. “I’m majoring in drawing; I know, not very impressive or complicated, but I love it. I’m quite the _artiste~_ I’ll show you some of my stuff later, Mina! I think you’ll like it.. Or at least I hope you will.” Mina nods her head enthusiastically with a full gummy grin lighting up her face and Chaeyoung beams back, dimples fully on display.

“Well, I’m dual majoring in music composition and music therapy,” Jihyo says brightly. Mina and Tzuyu share a look of admiration— Tzuyu's much less noticeable— of her major in music therapy and the passion for the craft that must have to be able to handle dual majoring.

“She has an amazing voice,” Chaeyoung adds and Jihyo gives her a light shove. “What? It’s true!”

“I’d love to hear you sing sometime,” Tzuyu looks at her, face emotionless except for her eyes swimming with curiosity.

“O-Oh. Yeah, sure. I’d be happy to sing for you sometime,” Jihyo blushes and dodges eye contact with the girl. She notices they’ve all finished their drinks. “Are you guys hungry? We can head over to this pizza place that’s down the street.”

Chaeyoung starts bouncing in her seat like a kid on a sugar high. “Yes! Yes! Pizza! Pizza pizza pizza~” Mina smiles at her fondly, giggling while Jihyo lets out a hearty laugh and ruffles the girl’s head. Tzuyu shakes her head with a sigh, though the corners of her lips try to twitch up into a smile. 

Tzuyu is the first to slide out of the booth and the other girls follow suit. She moves to clean up the dishes but Jihyo notices and quickly beats her to it, winning the made up courtesy battle that Tzuyu certainly wasn’t aware of. Jihyo can’t let the girl do everything. She brings their cups on the tray back to the worker and bows her head as she thanks them and leaves some won as a tip. 

She spins around to head towards her group, Chaeyoung and Mina already waiting on the sidewalk and Tzuyu waiting for her inside by the door. When Jihyo gets close, she opens the door for her and Jihyo smiles at her.

“What a gentleman,” she winks.

“I try,” Tzuyu replies nonchalantly with a hint of sarcasm and gazes down at her. Her eyes twinkle with an invisible grin being the only glimpse of emotion that the older girl gets from the blank face. Even though it is barely anything, for some reason, Jihyo feels her chest grow warm.

“Woohoo! Let’s go!!” Chaeyoung exclaims as she grabs Mina’s hand and pulls her along the sidewalk. Tzuyu and Jihyo watch Chaeyoung skip down the street with Mina in tow. Jihyo laughs and shakes her head.

“Those kids,” Tzuyu tsks playfully and Jihyo glances up to see her eyes shining with silent mirth. Only then, by having to look up, does Jihyo realize how much taller this younger girl is and is slightly taken aback by the height difference.

“Well, shall we?” Tzuyu gestures a few stores down the street where Chaeyoung and Mina slip into what is presumably the pizza place. They begin to stroll casually to meet up with the other half of their group.


End file.
